Anything But the Pirate Life Please
by Iceestar
Summary: Matthew Williams lives with his sickly older brother Francis Bonnefoy. One night a group of pirates shows up demanding that Francis come with them. In exchange for his brother's safety, Matthew offers to go in Francis' place. Little does Matthew know that a certain white haired pirate captain is going to make this entire thing more confusing and wild than anything Matthew has faced
1. Abduction

Matthew sat at a chair by the bed, placing a wet cloth on his ill brother's burning forehead. Unshed tears burned Matthew's eyes as he looked down at his only family left. Francis hadn't been doing well for a while now, continually getting sick and at this point, Matthew had been skipping work at the bakery in town so he could take care of Francis. Soon enough the baker would find someone else to have work for him and then Matthew and Francis would end up starving.

Licking his lips Matthew hung his head. Why couldn't he do anything to help Francis? All Matthew was doing was endangering the both of them.

A loud knock sounded at the door, making Matthew jump. He stood up quickly and looked around, wondering who that could possibly be. The knock sounded again, but this time it was louder and had a sense of impatience.

Francis's eyes flickered open and he looked at Matthew for a moment. "I- I'll get it," Francis murmured quietly, only somewhat conscious at this point.

Matthew almost laughed at this. Francis was nearly too weak to bathe himself and now he wanted to get the door? It would've been funny if not for the fact that Francis's weakness was the effect of a dangerous cold.

Matthew gently patted Francis's hand and said, "Non. You go back to sleep Francis. I'll get the door and deal with whoever is there." Matthew kissed the top of Francis's head lightly before standing up and leaving to answer the knocking, which at this point had turned into rapid banging and cusses in a different language.

Walking to the door, Matthew thought about who could be at the door since it was dark outside and the person was obviously very impatient. He thought about not answering the door and waiting for the person to just go away when he heard someone say something about knocking the door down. Matthew couldn't let them do that an .disturb Francis.

Quickly opening the door, Matthew looked to see who was there. Standing before him were two men. One had a long jacket on and a feathery hat. The other just had on normal pants and a shirt along with a black bandana tied over his head. Matthew looked at the two, confused.

"May I help you?" Matthew asked crossing his arms. He thought it was one of the townspeople needing something, but instead it was just two idiot strangers who were wasting his time when he needed to be looking after Francis.

The one with the hat smirked lightly and said, "Why yes, you can. Bring Francis here."

Matthew frowned, his fists balling up. "Make me," he snapped before slamming the door shut. Of all the nerve. Someone who answers a question like that deserved to get a door slammed in their face. Why the hell did they want to see Francis anyway? He was too sick to even get out of bed half the time.

Shaking his head, Matthew quickly went back to Francis and saw the sick blond sitting up and coughing lightly. Rushing over, he patted Francis's back gently.

"I told you to go back to sleep! You're not well and you won't get better unless you get rest! You need to sleep!" Matthew said quickly. He didn't want Francis to push himself.

Francis smiled at his brother's worry and said, "Mathieu, don't worry so much. Who was it at the door?"

Matthew frowned at the mention of the door and sighed softly. He waved his hand and said, "Oh nothing to worry about. Just two random gu-" He was interrupted by a loud bang and the sound of a large object falling over before hitting the ground.

Turned around to the dresser that sat near Francis's bed, Matthew grabbed the family sword which sat there and pulled it out of its sheath. "Stay there Francis!" Matthew snapped when he noticed that his brother was trying to get out of bed.

Leaving the room cautiously, Matthew saw the man with the feathered hat patting the other man on the shoulder.

"I knew there was a reason why I brought you along, Luddy!" The man with the hat said with a grin before turning around to see Matthew standing there with a sword.

'Luddy' turned around as well and looked at Matthew. The tall blond gave the smaller one an apologetic look for a spilt second before regaining the neutral one he had head earlier. "Ja, whatever, bruder. Let's just hurry," 'Luddy' said, sounding bored.

Matthew pointed the sword at the two and said, "Get out." He didn't care what they wanted or what they would do to him. The only thing Matthew cared about at that moment was making sure that Francis was safe and these two didn't get anywhere near him.

"Ludwig, take care of the brat," The man said as he crossed his arms.

Ludwig sighed and stepped a bit closer to Matthew, but still far enough away that the blond wouldn't be able to strike him with the sword. "We just want to talk to Francis. We know this is his home," Ludwig said in hopes of getting the smaller boy to put down his sword.

Matthew seemed to growl as he said, "Francis is sick and neither you nor your rude friend over there will be seeing him." He took up a stronger stance and gripped the sword tightly with his left hand.

Ludwig didn't hesitate after that to lunge forward and grab onto Matthew's sword hand. He knew that the other wouldn't be able to use the sword with him holding onto Matthew's hand like that and Ludwig had expected the blond to stop fighting after that. Ludwig definitely wasn't expecting the lanky boy to punch him across the face with his free hand.

The grip on Matthew's hand loosened and he yanked it along with the sword away from Ludwig before kicking the taller blond in the stomach. Matthew jumped back a bit and gripped the sword tighter.

Spitting at Ludwig's feet, Matthew snarled, "Get out of my house now."

A click of a pistol was all Matthew heard before a gun entered his field of vision. The pistol was just in front of his temple as the man whom Matthew didn't know the name of had moved closer to him during his small tussle with Ludwig.

"Nein, I don't think we will. In fact, I don't think this will be your house for very long," The red-eyed man said with a smirk. "Drop the sword," He commanded.

Matthew went stiff as he looked at the man from the corner of his eye. He shifted his grip on the sword slightly, but refused to drop it. Being a stubborn boy and knowing the ways of pirates, (which was what he assumed these people were) Matthew wouldn't drop the sword. He figured if he did they would probably kill him anyway.

"Have it your way boy," The man said, tightening his finger on the trigger.

Dropping to the ground the bullet barely missed Matthew's head, taking off a bit of his hair. He was about to swipe at the man's legs with his sword when a voice from behind him said, "Gilbert?"

The man, Gilbert, had retaken aim at Matthew and was about to shoot again when he heard his name. Lowering the gun, Gilbert turned to face a weak looking Francis whom was leaning against the wall.

"Franny! You look like shit, what happened?" Gilbert asked rudely. He had something of a sadistic grin on his face as he looked at his once friend. They had been really close for a very long time along with a boy named Antonio, but eventually Francis betrayed the two of them and Antonio ended up dead. Gilbert was marked as a traitor and a pirate and a bounty was placed over his head, leading for him to actually become a pirate.

Coughing into his hand weakly, Francis tried to force a confident smile, but it just looked like a grimace. "Thanks Gilbert. What brings you back to my home? Last I saw you; you swore that you'd cause me unimaginable pain before killing me. I think it's a little late for you to start your revenge," Francis said snidely. A hint of guilt was in his eyes, but vanished as his body was wracked with coughs. He did feel terrible about what had happened and never got over it, but of course, he wouldn't admit that to anyone.

Matthew rolled away from Gilbert and stood up, swiftly going to Francis's side and rubbing his back gently. He wished that Francis had stayed in bed, but was glad he had come out because otherwise Matthew would've found himself with a hole in his head. Glaring at Gilbert, Matthew kept his grip on the sword tight, but pointed it at the ground.

Gilbert seemed to study Matthew for a moment. The blond seemed a bit familiar at this point, but he couldn't quite remember who he was. Thinking for a bit longer, it finally clicked. "Matthew? Damn, look who got some balls. Last I saw you you were just a quivering wimp hiding behind a big white dog. Where'd the mutt go? Did he finally get eaten up by the wolves?" Gilbert said hoping to get a reaction out of Matthew.

Frowning, Matthew's eyes iced over darkly as he snapped "Shut up and get out." His beloved dog had died a while back, but Matthew was still very bitter about it. Plus, he wanted the jerk and his brother out of his house so Francis could rest again.

A cough stopped Gilbert from replying cruelly and the attention in the room turned towards Ludwig. "Gilbert, we should get our business over with before the rest of the town wonders what's going on and come to see," Ludwig said crossing his arms. He really just wanted to go back to this ship and get on their way because this whole thing was a bit boring and he didn't want to chance getting whatever Francis had.

Glancing at his younger brother, Gilbert quickly nodded and said, "Not cool to interrupt me, but whatever. Francis, you're coming with us to get your boyfriend to back off."

Francis gave Gilbert a slightly confused look before the white haired man clarified, "Arthur Kirkland."

Francis got a worried look on his face for a moment and took a glance at Matthew before looking back to Gilbert. "Why would you need me? A- and would you mind if we take this conversation outside?" Francis said, trying to not sound as nervous as he felt. Matthew knew nothing about Francis's past and his close relations with the pirates, but he was certain that Matthew had heard of the feared pirate Arthur Kirkland and would be able to put two and two together.

Matthew's eyes narrowed at Francis, but he stepped protectively in front of his brother. "He's not going anywhere with you and you're not going outside Francis, you can barely stand," Matthew said in a voice that showed there would be no arguing with him.

Smirking Gilbert said, "I don't think you /can/ stop me from taking Francis. You see, your older brother owes me in the first place and in the second place, you're a weakling. Francis, Arthur has been attacking my ships and been sailing all over my territory. To get him to back off you're going to come with us and I'll exchange your safety for him leaving my territory and ships alone. And if you die along the way, I'm just back to square one and I have a new body to dump over the side of my ship. No skin off my back."

Gilbert waved Ludwig forward to show that Matthew really wouldn't be able to stop him. Ludwig stepped up beside Gilbert and crossed his arms, staring at Matthew coldly.

Glaring at the two, Matthew held the sword up defensively in front of his chest. He would fight if he really needed to, but in all honest, Matthew really didn't want this to come to another fight.

Francis stepped up while Matthew was distracted with Gilbert and lightly placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Mon cher, it would be foolish to fight. Put that silly sword down and get me my coat," Francis said somewhat calmly. He didn't want Matthew to get involved in this pirate business after all, even if it meant giving up his own life.

Matthew turned to Francis, his eyes blazing as he snapped, "Tu ne va pas avec eux!" He wouldn't let Francis go while he was sick. Matthew wouldn't let Francis go with these people any time or any day.

Chuckling, Gilbert snidely said, "This isn't a choice."

Placing a pleading hand on Matthew's shoulder, Francis gently said, "Mathieu step asi-"

"No!" Matthew exclaimed without thinking. He glared at Gilbert for a moment before quickly saying, "What if there was a way to insure that Arthur leaves you alone, but Francis doesn't come with you?" He was desperate and only had half a plan, but he hoped to god that it would work out for him.

Gilbert nodded and said, "I'm listening."

Matthew nodded back to Gilbert, relieved that the other was at least going to hear him out. "Francis is terribly ill right now so if you brought him with you he'd just be another mouth to feed. It's stupid to take him if he's jsut going to use up your resources and then die before you can even negotiate with Arthur. What if Francis negotiated with Arthur for you? Arthur randomly shows up near the end of the month every month to visit Francis. When Arthur shows up Francis could talk to him and tell him to leave your ships alone and to get out of your territory. It's a win-win situation!" Matthew said his voice getting a bit louder than usual and his eyes somewhat wide. He didn't think this plan would work, but Gilbert seemed to be considering it. Matthew could only hope that the albino would listen and do what he asked.

Gilbert stared at Matthew, occasionally glancing from him to Francis. The pirate seemed to be thinking over every possibility to make sure he wasn't getting tricked or that this was going to backfire on him later on. He looked Matthew up and down before her glanced back at Ludwig to see what Ludwig thought of this option.

Having thought over absolutely everything, Ludwig found something wrong with what Matthew suggested. He locked eyes with the smaller blond, seeing as Matthew was the one doing the negotiating. Ludwig calmly said, "How do we know for certain that Francis will do this? And why would a pirate such as Arthur listen to a handicap and his little brother?"

Francis opened his mouth to protest at the first question, but was silenced when Ludwig continued, "But, it does look like it would work better than just bringing along a man we're waiting to die."

Ludwig stopped at this point and looked over at Gilbert to make sure he wasn't stepping out of line saying all of this. Getting a nod from Gilbert signaling that Ludwig was to continue with what he was saying, Ludwig said, "Therefore for insurance that Francis will do what we want, for extra encouragement to fully convince Arthur of what he needs to do, and in exchange for Francis not having to go, you, boy, have to come with us. You'll work as a pirate until it's proven that Arthur will leave us alone. In the month after this one, if Arthur doesn't touch us we will return you to your home, but if Arthur doe attack us we'll bring you back here and ill you for everyone to see."

Gilbert started laughing a bit, enjoying the look of shock and fear on Matthew's face and the look of anger on Francis's face. He wanted Francis to be angry. In fact, this seemed even better than what he had originally thought of. He'd be able to cause Francis agony in exchange for the agony he faced being driven from his home and watching his best friend die. And Ludwig had just said that they'd return Matthew to his home. Ludwig never said anything about returning him alive. Gilbert licked his lips and looked Matthew up and down, thinking that he'd have some fun with the kid before outright killing him.

Catching the look Gilbert gave Matthew, Francis's anger tripled. "Absolutely no-," Francis tried to roar when Matthew interrupted him.

"I'll do it. Just give me a half hour to get someone from the village to watch Francis while I'm away and to get a few things. Please," Matthew said quickly, not giving Francis time to argue.

After glancing at Ludwig to see was he thought, Gilbert nodded quickly and said, "You have twenty minutes or we'll come back and kill you both." He didn't wait for a response from either one of them and just walked out, stepping over the door that Ludwig had knocked down. After Ludwig had walked out of the door as well, Gilbert poked his head back in and pointed at the knocked over door.

Just to get on Matthew and Francis's nerves, Gilbert calmly said, "You really should get that fixed. I mean with the door down just anyone can walk right in." Gilbert left quickly with a wheezy laugh.

Matthew seemed to stand there frozen. He was glaring at the doorway where Gilbert had just disappeared and if looks could kill, the door way would be nothing more than a mushroom cloud.

Sighing softly, Matthew turned back to Francis, who looked enraged at him. Matthew knew that Francis was upset. He himself had been extremely upset that Francis was willing to give himself up without a fight.

"Mathieu, he will kill you. I know you think you helped, but you've only signed your soul over to the devil," Francis said darkly. He wanted to argue and tell Matthew not to go -to keep Matthew from going, but Francis knew if he did that Gilbert would just come back here, kill Matthew, and forcibly take him. Looking down, Francis prayed to whatever god may be watching them that Gilbert really would return Matthew, and return Matthew with a head.

Mathew set the sword down on the ground and hugged Francis gently. "He might, but you'll be safe and I may even find a way to escape death," Matthew said softly.

Francis gave a nodded and allowed for his younger brother to start getting his things.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Matthew was standing at the docks, looking around for Ludwig or Gilbert to show up. On his hip was the same sword he had pointed at Gilbert and Ludwig earlier. He had it because Francis insisted on him taking the sword as a bit of protection. Matthew also had a small sack slung over his back that contained a little bit of clothes. In his pocket was the watch his father had owned before his father had died. It was yet another thing Francis had insisted that Matthew take with him. Other than that, Matthew had nothing on him, but his clothes and the glasses on his face.

Chewing his lip nervously, Matthew looked around for any of the pirates there. It was still dark so no one in the town was up and about. Matthew had had to wake up the baker before he left to ask if the baker could take care of Francis while Matthew was gone. Matthew had felt bad about waking up the baker and giving such vague information, but Matthew hadn't wanted to get the poor baker involved in anything to do with the pirates and he had to have someone taking care of Francis while he wasn't there. Francis was too weak to take care of himself after all.

"Boy," was what Matthew heard before Ludwig, the tall, scary looking blond from before, came out of the shadows with his arms crossed and a fierce looking sword that seemed to have a reddish tint at the end on his hip. Matthew instantly knew that it had been very good that he listened to Ludwig and his brother and agreed to go with them rather than trying to run for it. Matthew had no doubt that he and Francis would've been dead fairly easily. Ludwig calmly asked, "Are you ready?"

Matthew nodded quickly and said, "Yes, I'm ready." He felt fear run down his spine as the other man turned to lead Matthew away and to the ship. Matthew had a feeling that if he was ever able to return to this town and to Francis, he would count himself the luckiest man in the entire world. A silent pray left his thoughts as he prayed, not only for his safety, but for Francis's as well.

A glance behind Ludwig told him just how much the smaller blond feared all of this. For a split second, Ludwig felt bad for the boy, whom had probably never seen the outside world much, but that feeling went away quickly. Ludwig was a pirate and his loyalties lied first with his brother and second with his brother as the captain. This random boy whose fate had been so unfortunate as to dump him into this no-win situation wasn't going to change Ludwig. He was certain of that.

Once they reached the row boat that would take them to the actual ship, Matthew had formulated something of a plan. He would prove himself to be a hard worker and try to make friends with a few of the pirates so he'd be protected from Gilbert. Not trying to sound conceited, but Matthew was fairly good at charming people and he was hoping to gain at least one friend that would help him escape if his life should prove to be in danger. It would help him out a lot and Matthew wasn't sure if it would work at all, but he would just hope for the best and keep in mind that his brother was waiting for him to come home.

Walking forward to what very well could be his death, Matthew mentally said goodbye to all of the people he knew in the town. He paused at the edge of the row boat and turned around to look at the place he was leaving behind, but before he could do so he was shoved on board by Ludwig. Stumbling a bit before catching himself, he turned to snap at Ludwig, but a glare from the other silenced him quickly. Matthew stood silently in the boat as Ludwig pushed the bat off the shore before jumping in. They were sitting still for a moment as Ludwig grabbed a coil of rope.

"Hold out your hands," Ludwig said in a emotionless voice. He was holding the rope in both of his hands and had it spread out in a way that put no doubts into Matthew's mind of what it was going to be used for and why he needed to hold his hands out.

Matthew pulled his hands closer to his body, not sure if he should do what had been asked, but realizing that if he didn't there would most likely be consequence. Matthew could almost hear that white haired pirate captain say, "Kesese if you'd rather not have you dainty hands tied up, we can just go and tie up Francis instead."

Sighing softly, Matthew held his hands out to the other with his eyes turned to the side. He felt Ludwig loop the rope around his wrists and tie them together securely and painfully. This honestly didn't surprise him that much as they were pirates and he wasn't going to be trusted at all at first. What did surprise him was when Ludwig looped rope around his head.

"Open your mouth and face me," was the stoic command Matthew was given. Turning to Ludwig and giving him a surprised look for a second, Matthew wondered what the point of this was. A sign of dominance? A way to make sure no one would hear Matthew screaming at the torture that awaited him? It didn't make sense, but Matthew had no choice, but to obey.

His mouth opened and Ludwig tied a knot so Matthew's mouth would be forced to stay open, but he would be unable to speak or make very many noises. Gilbert had ordered this to be done, for what reason, Ludwig didn't know. He suspected it was merely to put the younger blond in his place, but that didn't particularly matter to Ludwig. Once Matthew was properly tied up, Ludwig took the sword and laid it in the boat before taking the sack Matthew had as well. Once that was done, Ludwig patted Matthew down to make sure he didn't have anything else on him. Feeling the pocket watch, Ludwig took it from Matthew's pocket and laid it down with the other things, ignoring Matthew's muffled protests.

With all of that down, Ludwig sat down and started rowing, quite possibly bringing Matthew to his doom.

* * *

A rope was tossed down to the waiting blonds once they got right next to the ship. Ludwig grabbed it and tied the rope to the top of the row boat and to the two paddles the boat had. Once that was secure, a rope ladder was tossed down to them and Ludwig threw Matthew over his shoulder before climbing the rope ladder. Matthew gave a slight protest to being thrown over the taller blonde's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but after a moment he just stayed still, accepting his fate.

Once they were on deck, Matthew was set down on his feet and turned around to face what almost looked to be the entire crew of the ship. Lowering his eye so he didn't have to look into their grinning faces, Matthew felt ashamed. Here he was like some whore that was to be the prize of whom ever was able to stake their claim first. And he very well could be that. Matthew didn't know what was going to happen to him. After all, earlier Gilbert had insulted him by saying that just by looking at his hands you could tell he's never done any hard work like work on a ship. Matthew had come here on the promise that he would work, so what better way to treat the brother of your enemy than to use him to keep the crew happy?

In fact, that exactly what he thought was going to happen when a brave man stepped forward and grabbed his chin. Matthew head was tilted up so he had to look up into the eyes of a nasty and cruel looking man. The man grinned showing yellowed teeth and rank breath.

"Ain't you just the prettiest little male whore out there?" The man said snickering cruelly.

Matthew wanted to make a sharp retort back, but the rope inside of his mouth kept him silent. Luckily, he didn't even need to try to make a comment.

"And you'll step away from that whore should you wish to keep your hands," came the sharp comment from the middle of the crowd. There stood Gilbert, in all of his pirate captain glory. He stepped forward a bit, outside of the group of the other pirates that had made a semi-circle around Ludwig, Matthew, the other man, and, now, Gilbert.

The man turned to Gilbert and was about to say something when Matthew suddenly stomped on his foot. But, Matthew didn't stop there either. Earlier in the rowboat he realized he could move his arms still so if he needed to he could take a swing at someone. With his foot firmly down on the man's foot, Matthew made fists with both of his hands and rammed them into the man's stomach before stepping back. (And accidentally stepping back into Ludwig's chest) The man leaned forward, holding his stomach.

"Kesesese. Elizabeta, your cabin boy died in the last fight right?" Gilbert asked, turning back around to look at the only female on the ship. She wore a simple outfit with her hair tied back that made her look more like a guy. In her hands was a large frying pan.

With a nod from Elizabeta, Gilbert smiled and said, "Well, there's you knew cabin boy. Use him for whatever you want to use him for." A loud groan came from his men, who had been looking forward to messing around with this new thing. Gilbert turned to them with a wicked grin and said, "And anyone who dare touches my whore will be losing body parts before being tossed to the sharks."

The other men quickly left to either go back to sleep or take up their watches and duties. Soon enough, other than a few pirates walking about to keep watch and do their duties, no one was left.

Gilbert, Elizabeta, and Ludwig were the only ones that stayed standing near Matthew. Matthew glared sharply at Gilbert and stood calmly, daring the pirate captain to get near him. He didn't care if the idiot albino could have him thrown overboard with one word, Matthew didn't want the guy anywhere near him.

Elizabeta looked at Matthew for a moment before glancing at Gilbert and Ludwig. Turning back to Matthew she grabbed his arm and started walking back down to where she worked. Once Gilbert and Ludwig were out of earshot and not watching them, Elizabeta let go of Matthew and said, "Don't worry about the guys messing with you. The one that approached you when you first got here would've been the only one to do anything and with the way you attacked his while being bound I'm sure he'll keep his distance. That one's a bit of a coward, but he works hard when he needs to. Only reason he's still around."

Matthew just looked at Elizabeta silently. It wasn't like he would really talk anyway since his mouth was full of rope, but even if he could've said something he wouldn't have. Just as Elizabeta had spoken the ship had begun to move. Matthew was too busy looking off at the small village he had lived in for nearly as long as he could remember. It struck Matthew then and there that this was real and true; that he honestly may not see his hometown or his brother ever again. Silently, Matthew said goodbye to his old life and in that moment accepted his cruel fate.

* * *

Matthew laid on the hard wood floor and tried to sleep. Memories of how the night had gone kept him from sleep though. What happened after he was handed over to Elizabeta kept running in his head over and over again. As soon as they had gotten out of the eye sight of Gilbert and Ludwig, Elizabeta had taken off his gag and loosened the binds on his wrists. She told him that if he wanted to he could run or jump ship or attack her, but that it wouldn't do any good for him. For a second Matthew entertain the thought that she didn't know for certain, but the look on her face told him that she was completely serious.

He had nodded and just rubbed his wrists to try and relieve a bit of the soreness from them being bound so tightly. Matthew had looked at Elizabeta for a moment before realizing that she wanted him to say something. "Thank you for taking those off," Matthew said quietly. Silently he had hoped that his voice didn't show how scared and nervous he was.

Elizabeta had smiled and took Matthew by the hand before leading him down a set of stairs and through a door. Matthew was surprised to see that it was just a small kitchen with a bed pushed off to one corner of the room. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but seeing that he was just going to be the cabin boy for a cook was a bit surprising.

Turning to Elizabeta, Matthew asked, "Why are we down here?" He didn't want to come off as rude, but honestly he was curious as to why they were in the kitchen. Plus, he didn't want to just assume that he was going to be doing chores for the cook.

"Because you'll be working for me down here. I make the food for the crew, but also don't have to do too terribly much around here. During the raids they normally have me just bunker down here and prepare to fight if someone should come through the door. I'm not quite sure about whether you'll be sleeping in here with me or not since there's only one bed, but I'll make sure to ask Gilbert. Oh! What's your name? I can't just call you cabin boy the entire time you're on the ship," Elizabeta said with a gentle smile.

Nodding a bit, Matthew said, "I'm Matthew. I can cook quite a few things as I've been taking care of my brother and myself for a long time now. And to be honest I'm glad I'll be working with you rather than the others. You're Elizabeta right?" After getting a nod from Elizabeta Matthew continued speaking, "It's nice to meet you Elizabeta. I wish it were in different conditions as you seem like a nice person."

Chuckling, Elizabeta cheerfully said, "It's very good that you can cook. I'm sure everyone will be happy to get a bit more variation in their food. Mostly I'll just have you do simple things like cutting up food or sweeping around, but sometimes I'll probably let you take over the cooking. Now, the schedule is pretty simple. In the morning around six, sometimes seven, in the morning the men go into the mess hall which is right through that door there, and we serve breakfast. That means at the five o'clock bell you need to be down here ready for work or I'll have to hit you upside the head with my frying pan. Lunch is at exactly twelve o'clock so we'll be busy preparing that. That is the biggest meal made on the ship and there are a lot of people to feed. For dinner, which is at six o'clock at night, we either use left overs from lunch, by putting things in a stew, or we make something completely different. In the afternoon I'll give you a bit of time to wander around the ship if you want. Just remember the times food's served and that you should be at least an hour, if not two hours earlier than that. Oh and throughout the day we'll have to keep men from sneaking into the kitchen and stealing food. I don't think Gilbert will let you have a sword to use to defend the food so I'll probably give you a spatula. Just give the men a few whacks and they'll go away. Got all that?"

Matthew nodded in a daze, taking in all of the information slowly. He made a mental note of the times he would need to report for duty and silently rejoiced that he would have time to himself. It would be good to explore the ship and figure out ways to escape.

Elizabeta accepted Matthew's nod and said, "Now, as I said earlier you can try to escape all you want, it makes no difference to me. Just know you'll be caught each time or Gilbert will just go after your brother instead. With that over, look through the cabinets and make yourself familiar with everything."

Matthew didn't bother responding; he just turned and started shifting through the cabinets. Looking at all of the foods and ingredients they had, Matthew smiled softly. He saw that they had the stuff for his favorite food and made a mental note to ask Elizabeta if he could cook them for dinner or breakfast one day. As he was turning to the other wall to look over there the door Matthew and Elizabeta had come into was thrown open and Gilbert walked in.

Putting his hands on his hips, Gilbert looked at Matthew for a moment before turning to Elizabeta. "I didn't say you could untie him," Gilbert said crossing his arms.

Elizabeta tightened her grip on the frying pan in her hands and said, "You said I could do whatever I wanted with him. I believe that includes untying him." She grinned evilly and said, "I've warned you before about just bursting into my kitchen, Gilbert, now why are you here?" Typically, Elizabeta would've just whacked Gilbert upside the head until he left her kitchen, but she didn't want to make Matthew scared of her considering right now she would really be his only friend.

Gilbert smirked slightly and waved his hand a bit. "Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. I'm here 'cause I figured you've told him all about what he's supposed to be doing in here now and was going to take him to my room," Gilbert said, almost acting like Matthew wasn't even in the same room.

Elizabeta gave a look of confusion, her eye brows narrowing a bit. "Why are you taking him to your room?" Elizabeta asked. She had been under the impression that he was going to be staying in the kitchen with her since there was more than one hammock set up right there. `

"What do you think I'm stupid or something? Why would I leave him in here where he can get knives out of the drawers and kill everyone on the ship? Not likely. Plus, he's my prisoner so I want to make sure he's right where I want him to be and doing what I want him to do," Gilbert said, glancing over at Matthew for a second.

Nodding slightly, Elizabeta turned around to tidy up a counter. "Do whatever you want."

Snickering a bit, Gilbert nodded before grabbing Matthew's arm. "Come with me then and don't get any smart ideas just cause you're not tied up anymore," Gilbert snipped quickly and calmly.

For a split second Matthew considered trying to kick him in the shin or resisting, and it was visible on his face that those were his thoughts, but he decided against it, figuring that whatever his fate was would end up being ten times as bad if he started throwing a fit. Instead of fighting, Matthew just yanked his arm out of Gilbert's grasp and followed behind him silently. His head was held high as he followed, but on the inside he was terrified of what awaited him.

Elizabeta watched Matthew and Gilbert walk out of the kitchen and sighed loudly. She worried about what Gilbert was planning, knowing him to be quite unpredictable, but she knew that there wasn't much she could do other than hope for the very best.

* * *

Matthew was lead into a room on the ship that was away from where the crew would normally be. Walking into the room before Gilbert, Matthew looked around, seeing a simple bed, a desks, lots of maps of the wall, and a dresser. Matthew went towards the maps to look at them, but stopped when he heard the door close and the lock click. Turning quickly, Matthew watched Gilbert with calculating eyes.

Gilbert took a step towards Matthew, who immediately took a step back. Chuckling, Gilbert went over to the desk and took off his sword and his pistol, placing them on the desk calmly. He glanced at Matthew and said, "You can try and use them against me if you want to, but know that it won't work."

Simply glaring at Gilbert, Matthew moved back again and crossed his arms silently, trying to seem like he wasn't scared and that he didn't worry about what Gilbert was planning. For the most part it worked except for the look in Matthew's eyes, it gave the entire story away.

A loud sigh came from the pirate captain as he took note of the fact that Matthew looked kind of terrified if you looked him in the eyes. Gilbert was cruel yes, and he really did want to get back at Francis, but the more Gilbert had thought about it after bringing Matthew on ship the more Gilbert realized that Matthew didn't deserve getting dragged into something he had never had any part in. Plus, Matthew had earned respect from Gilbert when he had offered himself up to allow Francis to get better, especially considering the fact that Matthew knew that Gilbert was known for his cruelty.

Gilbert took a step towards Matthew, and pointed towards the bed. "Go sit on the bed," Gilbert commanded. When Matthew stood still defiantly, Gilbert took another step forward and snarled, "That wasn't a suggestion." This time, his order was followed so he turned back towards his desk and opened one of the drawers, looking for a bit of rope. He found some and turned around, walking over to Matthew.

At this point though, Matthew was trembling a bit and it was just barely visible. What had happened when he first got on the boat was running through his mind over and over again. Being called a whore affected him quite a bit and it made him nervous because he was certain that that was going to be his fate. Matthew wanted to stand up and fight or run or do something, but somehow he got the feeling that he needed to wait for the right moment to fight.

Gilbert walked over and grabbed Matthew's ankle tying him down to the bed before standing up in front of Matthew. "Stop trembling."

Frowning darkly, Matthew quickly snapped, "I'm not trembling. And why'd you tie me to the bed?"

"So you can't get away," was the simple reply that came from the pirate captain.

Matthew tried to slide back and away from Gilbert, but he didn't get very far due to his leg being tied to the bed. He was trembling more than before, but was trying even harder to hide it then he had been before.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and moved forward so he was looming over Matthew. Gilbert shifted so he was on the bed as well, pushing Matthew down and pinning him.

The point he was trying to make was to show Matthew that he could do whatever he wanted, but when he noticed that Matthew had frozen and the look of terror in his eyes was worse than before. Matthew was waiting, watching, and wondering what Gilbert was going to do, not knowing how to react.

Gilbert watched Matthew as well before leaning down and kissing him on the forehead. Releasing Matthew, Gilbert stood up off the bed and walked to the door. "Just go to sleep kid."

* * *

A/N: Sooooo, yeah. This is for someone on deviant art. It was supposed to be a one shot prize for a contest and somehow it turned into a project that's probably not going to get done for a while. Um... Currently I'm at 14K, but I've got a lot of stuff planned still so I'm thinking it's going to end up being somewhere around 30K words. That'll be fun.

Any way, sorry about any and all crapiness. And thanks for reading.


	2. Naming Birdie

It had been a week now since Matthew was first brought on the ship and he couldn't really complain about anything more than being taken from his home and the constant worry about his brother. No one had tried anything on him despite how some of the men had acted when Matthew was first brought on the ship. Even Gilbert had done nothing. Well, nothing except that little kiss on the forehead.

That was something that confused Matthew quite a bit. He wasn't sure why he was thinking about it though. Most people would just be relieved that that was all that had happened, but to Matthew it meant something. It meant that Gilbert wasn't as rough and tough as he tried to seem. But, Matthew was doing his best to put that out of his mind. If he let it stay in his mind he would try to investigate or dig deeper and, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.

Matthew hummed slightly under his breath as he continued to chop up the vegetables that had been placed in front of him. Working under Elizabeta had been nice. The fiery cook was kind enough, but took no slack when it came to work and wasn't afraid to talk Matthew's ear off while they were cooking together. The stories she shared always interested Matthew and he wasn't bored working with her. It was also always funny when someone would try to sneak into the kitchen to get extra food and Elizabeta would take a frying pan to their head.

Respect was something Elizabeta received a lot of and Matthew easily saw why. He pitied the person foolish enough to disrespect her. Matthew himself, respected Elizabeta quite a bit and he only hoped that she respected him as well.

"Alright, Matthew, how are the vegetables coming alo-" Elizabeta said, suddenly interrupted by a loud crash and the sound of shouting. She paused for a moment before going towards the door to go out and find out what was going on.

The door opened before she got to it, as a pirate walked through the door way. He was obviously one of the lower members of the crew, but also obviously held very important information for them.

"We're being attacked. A ship came out of nowhere and got right up next to us. We weren't even able to fire our cannons before they were right upon us. Captain ordered me to stay down here with you two and protect you if we get boarde-" The pirate said, his words being cut short by a cutlass getting shoved through his back. The cutlass was pulled back out and the now dead pirate fell forward, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

A man that neither Matthew nor Elizabeta recognized stepped forward, a grin plastered to his face and a bloody cutlass held in his hand. "Some guard he was, aye?" The man questioned with a low chuckle.

His meaty hand that didn't hold a cutlass grabbed for Elizabeta, grabbing her wrists and knocking the frying pan out of her hands. "Didn't know there were girls on this ship. We'll be having fun with you for a while now," The man said cruelly, starting to pull her along.

Matthew woke from his frozen state and acted quickly. He gripped the knife he had been using on vegetables and moved towards the man holding onto Elizabeta. The man who grabbed onto Elizabeta quickly pushed her back out of the kitchen and into the grip of a different person, who then took her up onto deck.

The first man with the bloody cutlass took a swing at Matthew, this time not wasting his breath on talking.

Matthew was able to dodge out of the way, side stepping the vertical swing. Moving in closer, Matthew countered the first attack with a quick stab, aiming for the unknown man's chest. His knife was pushed aside by the cutlass, but Matthew wasted no time in using his empty hand to punch the man in the face.

At this point, Matthew moved his knife out of the block from the cutlass. He took a step forward and with both of his hands, pushed the knife into the man's chest before ripping it back out. Matthew stumbled back a bit from the force of pulling the knife out, but he didn't take his eyes off the man in front of him, fearing that he hadn't killed the man. Matthew's fear was uncalled for because just moments after the man gave a cough before collapsing on the ground, bleeding to death.

Matthew didn't care about the man though, or the fact that he had just killed someone. Matthew's only thought at that moment was to rescue Elizabeta from the invaders.

Kneeling down, Matthew ripped the cutlass out of the dying man's grasp. Shifting the blade in his hand, Matthew judged the weight of the weapon. He wasn't sure how well he would be able to use the weapon, but he wasn't thinking about that either.

Dashing up to the deck, Matthew found that the entire ship was in chaos. Another ship was right next to the ship Matthew was on and there was a plank connecting the two ships so the invaders could get across. Desperately, Matthew searched for Elizabeta, hoping for just a glimpse of her light brown hair so he could get to her before she was taken aboard the other ship.

Violet eyes scanned the chaos, searching and sear- There! Elizabeta was being dragged across the plank and onto the other ship. Wasting no time, Matthew darted around the fighting men, ducking his head and keeping away from the invaders as best her could. As fast as his legs could carry him, Matthew was across the plank and attacking the man trying to drag Elizabeta away.

With a quick slash to the man's arm, Elizabeta was released and Matthew pushed her behind his body, ready to face the man who had grabbed Elizabeta. Not turning to look, Matthew gave Elizabeta a command, "Run!"

Panicked and too disoriented to refuse, Elizabeta ran back across the plank and onto the safety of Gilbert's ship. The one who had grabbed her, made a move to get around Matthew and grab onto her once more, but Matthew was having none of that. Matthew kicked the plank off the edge of the ship, causing it to fall off balance and drop into the waiting sea below.

Matthew's back was to Elizabeta so he didn't see the look of surprise she gave him. What he did see was the look of anger the pirate that had grabbed Elizabeta gave him. A chill ran down Matthew's spine as he realized that he just threw away his chance of escape because if he tried to jump to his ship now the other pirate would follow and grab Elizabeta again. So what did Matthew do? Well, he attacked.

Gripping the sword with both hands, Matthew took a step forward and slashed at the pirate without warning. His attack created a large gash down the chest of the man and Matthew moved away from the pirate quickly. Looking around, Matthew tried to calculate the best way to get back on the other ship when the ship he was currently on began to move away from Gilbert's ship.

Perking up to the noises around him, Matthew realized that the invaders where being called back and that they were sailing away now, with Matthew stuck on their ship. Despite not liking the arrangement of living on Gilbert's ship, Matthew had a feeling it would be much better than living on the ship he was currently on right then. What to do, what to do?

It would be risky for Matthew to try and jump back onto the ship because there was more distance and because the invaders would probably be able to easily stop him and kill him. So, Matthew did the only logical thing before the invaders noticed his presence on their ship; he climbed.

Getting to the main post of the ship, Matthew gripped the ropes tied around on it and began to climb, quickly and quietly, praying no one would notice him until he was higher up. But, following the theme of that day, luck was not with Matthew and he was only a little ways up when he heard people shouting about him and others shouting that they were going to get him. Silently, Matthew tried to take count of what he had with him. In his pocket he had a little flask of oil that was for starting the oven up to cook food. In the other pocket were a few matches. And then he had the cutlass in his hands. That, and there were a ton of ropes around him.

Wait a minute, there was an idea. Matthew slashed one of the ropes near him, cutting it loose. If Matthew's thoughts were correct he'd be able to swing over to Gilbert's ship since they were still close enough. Matthew dropped the cutlass so he'd be able to carry the rope in the unoccupied hand and to climb high so he would be able to swing father. A few curses told Matthew that the cutlass had hit someone and Matthew hoped that that would slow the pirates down… a lot.

Scurrying up the main post a bit more, Matthew stopped once he got to a stable part. He glanced down and saw that the pirates, while they were close, wouldn't be able to get to him for a little bit, which gave Matthew an idea. After all, what would happen if these pirates tried to attack again? Would Matthew live? Would he be able to protect Elizabeta? As much as Matthew wasn't a killer or anything he'd rather give up the lives of people he didn't know than the lives of people he actually did know.

Matthew held the rope between his teeth and ripped off part of his shirt. He pulled out the flask of oil and shoved the down into the bottle so just a bit of the cloth was touching the oil and getting wet. Holding that in his right hand, Matthew got out a match from his other pocket. Striking the match against the wood he was standing against, Matthew touched the flame to the cloth, watching it catch fire and burn for a second. Glancing down again, Matthew saw that the pirates were now closer and it would be best if he hightailed it out of there.

Smirking a bit at the surprised looks of the pirates below him, Matthew waved the flask around a bit so they could all clearly see it. Then, without another thought, Matthew dropped the flask, watching it shatter on the deck and alight with fire. Taking the rope out from between his teeth, Matthew gripped it tightly. Looking over, Matthew noticed that the ship was also farther away than Matthew thought, but oh well it wasn't like Matthew had an option other than jumping, especially since he just set this ship on fire.

Gathering as much courage as he could, Matthew took a deep breath before jumping; hanging onto the rope with all of his might as he swung quickly and terrifyingly from the rope. Once Matthew was just over Gilbert's ship, he let go of the rope, sailing through the air with his arms spread out and his air fanning around his head. For a moment it almost looked like Matthew was flying. At least, it looked like that till he hit the deck.

Hitting the deck hard, Matthew tried to roll with it to keep himself from getting damaged too badly. Unfortunately, Matthew's shoulder hit the deck first, causing him to roll before flopping down on the deck on his back, getting the breath knocked out of him and causing his head to spin. He laid there for a bit, trying to force air into his lungs despite their protests and trying to ignore the people around him questioning if he was okay. Of course he wasn't okay. He had just used a rope to swing from one pirate ship to another while setting the pirate ship he had been on on fire. Oh and not to mention the fact that he had just slammed onto the deck so hard his entire body hurt.

Yeah, Matthew was feeling just peachy. Maybe if he didn't move they'd just let him lay there for a little while. That sounded kind of nice.

"Nice flying, Birdie."

Some deity way up in the sky really had it in for Matthew. Otherwise the obnoxious person that voice belonged to would have fallen off the ship at one point or another. Which, would have been really nice. Which, was the exact reason why it didn't happen. "Uhuh, yeah sure…" Matthew mumbled, only partly coherent.

Next came laughter from said obnoxious person which almost grated on Matthew's nerves more than the other's voice.

"Gilbert leave him alone. He saved my life you know." There was a voice Matthew wasn't too sad to hear. It was nice to know that Elizabeta was okay. After all if she wasn't okay then it meant Matthew's heroics were for nothing.

Forcing himself to his wobbly feet, Matthew stood up a little and looked at Gilbert in the eyes. "Doesn't matter what I did Elizabeta. The douche doesn't care either way," Matthew said snarkily. Matthew had just killed one, maybe two people, and set an entire pirate ship on fire, suddenly Gilebrt wasn't nearly as scary as he had been.

Matthew had been expecting a harsh reply or some kind of insult back. Instead, he got more laughter. Giving Gilbert a confused glance, Matthew saw that Gilbert was just smirking and shaking his head a bit.

Gilbert turned to a man standing beside him and said, "The kid kills a man, saves a chick, and jumps off a boat and thinks he's the toughest thing in the world now. Really funny right?" Gilbert shook his head a bit and then looked back at Matthew. Holding out his hand to Matthew, Gilbert finally said, "Nah I'm just kidding. Really, thanks for saving Elizabeta's neck. I thought you were just a wimp when you first got on this boat, but I'm starting to think I was wrong."

Staring seemed like an appropriate thing to do, but fortunately for Matthew he didn't stare for long. "Whatever," was Matthew's quick response before he walked around the pirate captain and back towards the kitchen. Matthew didn't care about getting Gilbert's approval. He only cared about surviving till he was dropped back off with Francis. Making friends was useless on this ship, especially making friends with the guy that had kidnaped him.

Seeming slightly put-off for a minute, Gilbert's smile dimmed a bit, but he quickly hid it with a shrug. Turning around to his men, Gilbert cheerfully announced, "Alright men for a job well done fighting off the invaders everyone will get extra rounds of food and rum tonight!"

A cheer went up and Gilbert grinned, any thoughts of being rejected by the blonde behind him.

* * *

It was after all the pirates had had their fill of food and drink when Elizabeta finally came back into the kitchen. For a while there it was Matthew nonstop cooking more and more food while Elizabeta brought it out to the others. After that while though, Matthew had told Elizabeta to go out and join them since they had finished cooking and that Matthew would hold down the fort in the kitchen. Elizabeta had offered to just have Matthew come with her, but Matthew had told her to just go.

When Elizabeta came back into the kitchen she seemed a little tipsy, probably from having a few drinks with the others, but not too bad. She did seem concerned about Matthew, wondering why he had been so quiet for so long and why he didn't care to celebrate. When asked about it though, Matthew would just change the subject quickly and start babbling about something else entirely.

Though, Elizabeta finally managed to get a word in when Matthew had to stop for a moment and take a breath. "Before you continue speaking for another long time, can I tell you two things?" With a nod from the other, she continued, "First off, we'll be stopping in a town tomorrow to restock our supplies since most are gone by now. Secondly, Gilbert said that you can sleep in the kitchen tonight. Something about wanting his own bed. I really think he just didn't like the fact that you blew him off after he actually said something nice, but he's a big baby that needs to get over it. Oh and there's a third thing while I'm thinking about it, tomorrow when we go into town you'll be with Gilbert and everything like that. He's gonna look into some stuff separate from the crew so he wanted you with him to make sure you don't try running off."

Matthew was surprised to hear that he was being trusted enough to sleep in the kitchen rather than tied to the end of gilbert's bed like he had been sleeping for the past week. Maybe his heroics had a bigger impact than he had imagined. It certainly sounded like he had earned some respect from Gilbert.

"Right… Sorry about talking so much Elizabeta. You should probably get some sleep then if we'll be restocking since you'll need to get food and everything," Matthew said with a soft smile.

Nodding a bit, as if thinking Matthew's suggestion through all the way, Elizabeta said, "Right… I'll do that. Oh! There was actually one more thing that I also forgot about. Gil wanted you to go talk to him in his room and stuff. Now, I'm off to bed."

Cursing his bad luck, Matthew just told Elizabeta he'd be back to go to sleep before turning and leaving the kitchen. Why Gilbert wanted to talk with him, Matthew didn't know, but he supposed he was just going to have to find out on his own.

* * *

Matthew went into the room after knocking on the door and saw Gilbert standing there, holding his family sword he had brought with him before it was taken away. Glancing at the sword for a moment, Matthew wondered why Gilbert was here holding it. A shiver of fear ran down his spine and apparently the fear also traveled to his eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Gilbert suddenly snapped, his red eyes growing suddenly fierce.

Giving him a confused look, Matthew uttered an intelligent, "huh?"

Rolling his eyes, Gilbert sat on the bed behind him and shifted his grip on the sword. "You look at me like I'm a monster that's going to jump at you and rip your throat out with me teeth. It's really annoying," Gilbert explained as though it should be obvious.

Lifting an eyebrow, Matthew thought this over. Gilbert got upset whenever Matthew got scared? That didn't make much sense, after all wasn't it a good thing Matthew was scared? Plus how could he not be? Gilbert had taken him from his home and threatened both his and his brother's life.

"I think I have a valid reason for that considering the fact that you showed up at my home a week ago demanding that my sick brother, whose probably going to be on his death bed if he doesn't get better, come with you and I was forced to make a deal with you so you wouldn't end up killing my brother and I got taken by you instead and then it was implied that I was going to be your own personal whore. Excuse me for not turning around with my back exposed to you and handing you a knife with which you could use to… oh, I don't know, stab me in the back. My bad, I'll make sure to improve my attitude your royal highness. Now, do you have any more impossibly ridiculous tasks for me before I leave and get what little sleep I can without having to worry about you being in the room with me?" Matthew said in one breath, his mouth drawn into a tight frown as his eyes narrowed in slight anger. What did Gilbert care if he was scared? Did the other expect him to just let his guard down while he was weaponless? That was just stupid and begging for a knife in between the ribs and that was exactly what Matthew didn't want. Matthew just had to survive the time on this ship before they dropped him back off with Francis and then Matthew and Francis could move so Gilbert would never find them again and Matthew would be able to go on with his life and put the entire experience behind him.

Gilbert watched Matthew for a bit, his face strangely void of any emotion. It looked like Gilbert was stuck between trying to process what Matthew had just said and trying to figure out how to reply to it. On the inside though, Gilbert just felt like an idiot. Why should he expect the other to trust him after how he acted? It was stupid of him. Though, looking back on his actions, Gilbert did feel bad. He had taken his anger and hatred for Arthur and his anger towards Francis' betrayal out on Matthew who was just some poor kid stuck in the middle. It was cruel of him and he should have expected no less. And what was worse was that Gilbert had been truthful back then. Gilbert never would've gone far enough to sexually degrading him, but he would have acted like he was going to. Gilbert would have been cruel and after letting Matthew work in the kitchen for a day given him harder work that he wouldn't be able to do. Gilbert would have scared Matthew and made him so paranoid that he would jump at his own shadow. And in the end, when Arthur finally left him and his ships alone, Gilbert would have slit Matthew's throat and tossed him overboard. It was harsh, but Gilbert's heart had hardened against all emotions, or so Gilbert had thought.

It was apparent, now, that Gilbert's heart hadn't hardened all the way through. After all, after seeing that look of pure terror on Matthew's face Gilbert had stopped and recalculated what he was going to do with the blonde. That look caused Gilbert to start questioning who the real monster was in the tale. Arthur? Francis? No, with that one look, Gilbert realized that if he didn't stop himself from torturing and killing Matthew he would end up being the real monster. And so, Gilbert had just kissed the top of the blonde's head and told him to go to sleep. It had confused both him and Matthew, but Gilbert felt it was right.

After a week of having the blonde sleep in his bed under his watchful eye and work in the kitchen, Gilbert reevaluated his feelings towards Matthew. Did Gilbert really want to do that to someone who had so much life in him? Matthew had a spark unlike most people Gilbert had seen. The blonde was meek and scared on the outside, but on the inside was a strong warrior who could tear you apart with words just as well as he could with a sword. It was interesting to Gilbert the more he watched Matthew and soon enough Gilbert had the urge to get to know the blonde more. To get closer to him and become his friend… Or more.

It caused Gilbert to realize that his previous judgment was wrong and that it may have been time to let old grudges go. But the deciding factor that confirmed what Gilbert was thinking was the fight earlier that day. Matthew had risked his life for Elizabeta and fought his hardest to protect someone he cared for. It almost made Gilbert wish Matthew would fight for him like that, not that he needed the protection, but to know that someone other than family would risk their life for you like that was amazing. And then, watching Matthew climb the main post on the other ship with a bloody sword in his teeth and a desperate look on his face, Gilbert wondered if it would end up being Matthew's end, but then Gilbert saw the blonde drop a flask down from where he stood and watched in amazement as the other ship's deck erupted into flames where the flask hit and began to spread. Gilbert was dumbstruck as Matthew took the rope he had cut in between his hands and used it to swing back over to his swing. So dumbstruck in fact that Gilbert hadn't even thought to try and catch Matthew, but just stood there and watch Matthew land.

Immediately Gilbert's level of respect for Matthew had risen tenfold and that was the point in which Gilbert decided that he wanted the blonde to no longer be scared of him and to become his friend.

Coming back from deep within his thoughts, Gilbert looked down at the floor and responded to Matthew. "No, I don't expect you to trust me after what I did to you. You'd be a fool to trust me after all that. I just… You earned my respect and I don't appreciate being looked at like I'm a monster. I got enough of that as a kid in the village I grew up in. And you're a lot different than most people. It interests me," Gilbert said calmly, pausing for a moment. Before Matthew could cut in though, Gilbert continued, "When I first brought you on the ship my intention was to mess with you and break you mentally before tossing you overboard, so it's good that you didn't trust me then, but now my intention is different. I realized that my fight really isn't with you. You're just some poor sap that got caught in the middle of all of this and there really isn't any use in killing you. It'd be unawesome of me to kill you without needing to. Plus, you've earned my respect with how you fought today, which is the real reason I wanted you to come in here."

Matthew crossed his arms and thought for a moment about arguing with Gilbert, but decided better of it and just gave the pirate a look that said, 'well?'

Seeing the look and taking it as permission to continue, Gilbert stood up and held out the sword. "You've earned this back. I have faith that you won't turn around and stab the nearest living person on this ship now and I respect you enough as a fighter to know that you will be able to wield it if you need to. Plus, if we run into trouble again I'll want you and Elizabeta to be safe so you don't have to do anymore flying tricks, Birdie."

Surprised was an understatement if you were trying to describe Matthew's feelings at that moment. Gilbert trusted him enough to give his sword back? There had to be some kind of catch. A trick, that's what it had to be. There was no way Gilbert would do something like that just out of the goodness of his heart. At least, in Matthew's mind there was no way Gilbert would do something like that.

"What's the catch?" Matthew asked quietly. He almost didn't want to ask though. That sword was his family's and so if he got it back it meant a little piece of home so he really did want it back, but it wasn't in Matthew's nature to let people pull wool over his eyes.

Gilbert shrugged a bit and said, "No catch really. This is really just me giving it back to you with nothing to gain from it other than Elizabeta being better protected."

Crossing his arms, Matthew was quick to say, "And how do you know I'm not going to walk out of this room with my sword and go and stab Elizabeta in the back? For all you know that could be my intention. Or to use the sword to threaten my way off of this ship. You don't know what exactly I'm thinking and it's arrogant of you to assume that you do know what I'm thinking."

Laughing a bit Gilbert just said, "Birdie, if your intention was to honestly go back to the kitchen and stab Liz in the back you wouldn't have risked your life to save her earlier today. After all, why didn't you just get rid of her then? You could have just let those guys take her and she would have been gone before any of us on this ship knew what happened. I'm not quite as dumb as you think I am. And just take the sword. No catch. Maybe this way you'll trust me a little bit more."

Rolling his eyes, Matthew took the sword before saying, "Don't get your hopes up. And why are you calling me Birdie? It sounds like a name a little kid would give to their pet… well, bird."

"Well, birds fly right? Kind like you flew off that ship on onto this one. That wasn't exactly flying, but with your arms spread out it looked like you were trying to fly."

Matthew just stared for a minute before shaking his head. "I'm not sure if you're just stupid or insane now, but.." Matthew said as he turned around to the door. He paused before leaving as if thinking for a moment before he continued with what he had been saying, "…. Whatever."

The door closed behind Matthew and left Gilbert in the room alone. Chuckling a little bit, Gilbert smiled and muttered to himself, "Seems like you don't hate me as much as you want me to think Birdie."

* * *

A/N: Right, so this is the second chapter of it. Not much for me to say considering I'm uploading this chapter at the same time as the first and the third.

Thanks for reading and sorry for all crapiness of the story.


	3. The Albino Has a Heart

It was the next day and they had docked at a little town they had been to several times before. In fact, most of the villagers seemed to know the crew and be happy to see them. When Matthew asked Elizabeta about it, she had responded by telling him that the crew had fended off some other pirates that were trying to raid the village. This left Matthew confused as to why pirates would attack other pirates over a tiny village. After all, didn't pirates like it when things got destroyed and torn up?

Matthew didn't really have much time to think about it before he was handed over to Gilbert. Apparently just he and Gilbert were going to be walking around. When finding that out, Matthew put a hand on his sword to make sure it was still in place and ready for use. It wasn't that Matthew didn't trust Gilbert, it was more of a, Matthew was going to use whatever opportunity that came up.

When Matthew walked over to Gilbert and asked him what they would be doing in the town, Gilbert had just shrugged. Matthew, now thoroughly confused, just followed along as Gilbert chose a random direction and just walked along.

"Why'd you just shrug? Do you not know where we're going?" Matthew questioned. He didn't really like being confused or kept in the dark.

Shrugging again, Gilbert just said, "I know where we're going cause I've been in this town a bunch, but it doesn't really matter. We're not actually going to go and get any supplies. I'm just wandering around and I wanted someone to come with me, but since everyone else is getting supplies or watching the ship, you were the most likely candidate."

Matthew opened his mouth to make some snappy comment about how that was a waste of time or how Gilbert was a terrible captain or that he could have gone and gotten supplies with the others, but he hesitated for a second and just muttered, "Whatever."

Laughing was probably not an appropriate thing for Gilbert to do, but he did it anyway. It was funny that Matthew was holding his tongue a little bit. It wasn't much, but it was a change from how Matthew had been earlier. Earlier Matthew was either scared around Gilbert as if Gilbert was going to kill him at any given moment, or Matthew was snappy and snarky, not letting Gilbert get too close. Matthew reminded Gilbert of a wounded animal that had been dumped in an unfamiliar place and at first Gilbert had taken it as a sign of weakness, but quickly enough, Gilbert realized that he was the one who had caused it and as rude as he appeared on the outside, Gilbert actually didn't like causing people pain. Yeah at first, Gilbert might be angry and all ready and set to use you and then dump your body off the side of the boat, but after Gilbert calmed down a bit he always realized that it was a stupid idea and that he needed to calm down.

It had been an interesting discovery with Matthew and Gilbert wanted to show the blonde that he wasn't all bad now.

Grumbling, Matthew smacked Gilbert's arm before crossing his arms and continuing to follow Gilbert through the town. As they went villagers would wave at Gilbert or yell hello at him or stop him and ask him questions. Every once in a while Gilbert would stop at a place and go in to talk to the people working there. A lot of the time he asked the same questions about how business was going or if the town had had anymore issues with pirates. Each time the answer was generally the same. No pirate attacks recently, apparently all thanks to Gilbert, and all the businesses were doing just peachy. It was really weird for Matthew to see this side of Gilbert.

Was Gilbert really all that great?

* * *

The two were now near the edge of town and Matthew was getting antsy. There was a forest to the right of the path they were on, Gilbert had his back turned, and Matthew's hand seemed to continually gravitate towards his sword. The thought that running would mean certain death for Francis was constant in Matthew's mind, but another thought that was constantly there was the thought of finally being free once more. The pure desire to get away from the other pirates and reclaim the freedom taken from him was nearly overwhelming to Matthew.

Casting yet another glance towards the forest, Matthew silently told himself to stop being stupid, not noticing Gilbert sending glances back towards him. Sighing a little, Matthew turned forward again, failing to notice Gilbert turning back around just at the same time.

It was silent for a while until Gilbert suddenly spoke up. "Why don't you just run? I've had my back turned to you this entire time. You could have stabbed me in the back and then taken off running so why didn't you?" Gilbert questioned quietly.

Matthew's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You almost sound like you want me to stab you in the back and take off running. Do you really wish to die that badly?"

Gilbert let out a laugh at this, but unlike earlier it sounded harsh and cold. Matthew decided that he didn't like the sound. It sounded too foreign from the way Gilbert normally acted. It didn't have that light airy sound to it or the cheer that went into most of what Gilbert seemed to do.

"I don't know. Maybe the world would be better off without me if I were dead. I just would have thought that the second you saw an opening like this one you would just take off running. You proved me wrong, Birdie," Gilbert said with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

This got Matthew a bit angry though. "What was this some kind of test?! To see if I would stab you in the back and run off? That's so stupid. Why would I risk my or Francis' life like that? I have no reason to kill anyone so long as I can get home and take care of him," Matthew snapped. This was just all so confusing. At first Gilbert had acted like the enemy, like he was a terrible person, and then Matthew discovered that Gilbert wasn't that bad and now…. Well, now Matthew just didn't know what to think or what to do.

Sighing a little, Gilbert turned around to finally face Matthew and just said, "So that's it? The only reason you didn't stab me in the back is because it would risk your safety and Francis' safety?"

Clenching his fists in anger, Matthew shook his head. "Why? Where you expecting something different? I should want to stab you in the back. You took me from my older brother, who may or may not be dying at the moment. I don't know how he is. All I know is that before I left he had a foot in the grave and that it's tearing me apart to not know what happened to him. He might be dead Gilbert and you're sitting here playing mind games with me to see if I'm going to run away. Is that all this is to you? A giant game?" Matthew exclaimed, his face twisted in anger.

Taking in a few deep breaths, Matthew decided that he wasn't done there, "You're a sick bastard you know that Gilbert? You sit here and you get in people's heads and you mess with and pick them apart until they're just about mad! You act all nice and suck to me and then turn around and do crap like this. I don't know what you want from me. I don't want to kill anyone. That man that I killed for Elizabeta was the first life I have ever taken and I never want to do it again. You're scum Gilbert, but I wouldn't kill you to get away. Is that the answer that you wanted? That you've taken me from this world I had carefully created around me that was safe and sheltered and you shattered it! You threw a rock into a glass house and now it's gone and I hope you're happy. Is this what you wanted?"

It was then that Matthew realized that he was shaking. His eyes were watery and his knees felt weak. All in all, Matthew just felt weak. He was tired of all of this. He really just wanted everything to go back to normal.

Sinking to his knees, Matthew quietly said, "I knew about Francis' history with you and Antonio. Francis told me about it when he thought I was old enough. I had ignored it though because I didn't want him to get dragged back in and I didn't want to end up dragged into it. We moved around all the time and I tried to get him to forget about all of it. I just wanted to keep the both of us safe and then he got sick and then you showed up and everything I had worked to hold together and protect was broken. I just hope you're happy with the results. At least then someone will have gotten something out of this mess."

Sliding down so he was on the same level, Gilbert sat there, silent for a long time before finally speaking, "Look, Matthew, I do a lot of shit without thinking about how things are going to turn out. I took you away from Francis because after all these years I'm still bitter towards him. I wanted to hurt him so I agreed to take you instead of him. I expected for you to just be some whiny useless brat that was going to fight me at every twist and turn. Instead I got someone who would do the work given him. And then the biggest surprise yet, you fighting back to protect someone on the crew. I took you on this ship expecting to use you until you were half dead yourself and then killing you off and rejoicing in the fact that I got Arthur to leave me alone. I found out that I was wrong. I found that I started to actually like you as a person and that I didn't want to just kill you and dump your body."

Gilbert paused for a minute as if waiting for Matthew to respond. When no response came, Gilbert continued, "And now I think I might like you more than just as a person."

The world seemed to freeze for the moment as Matthew processed what Gilbert had just said. It took a minute before the gears finally clicked and it registered all the way through Matthew's head.

There was complete silence. A minute passed… and then a second…. And then a third…. And then, Matthew stood up. Without glancing at Gilbert, Matthew took off in the other direction running.

* * *

A/N: Alright! This is the third chapter so far. I believe this puts the story at 14K now. Um... Yeah, after the stuff in town happens I plan on adding a bit more fluff and relationship development before adding another fight, a lot of drama, and then a final fight and that'll be the end. I hope anyone reading likes this. thank you very much for reading. Reviews are very appreciated!


	4. A Lost Brother

Matthew finally stopped running after a while and sat underneath a tree, his knees curled up to his chest and his arms wrapped protectively around his legs. With a soft sigh, Matthew put his head down on his legs and tried to collect his thoughts.

So… Gilbert liked him and had implied that he liked him as more than just a person. Did that mean that Gilbert was in love with him or that Gilbert just wanted to be friends? Matthew had taken it as the first idea, but now that he was sitting down and thinking about it he realized that Gilbert probably had just meant that he wanted to be friends. At this point, Matthew just felt kind of silly, but at the same time who could blame him for assuming that Gilbert didn't mean just friends?

Maybe Matthew had been hoping that Gilbert meant more than just- No! No way would Matthew like a guy like Gilbert. Gilbert had taken him from his brother and had ruined his life. Why in the world would he like someone like that even as a friend? Sure, Gilbert had been nice so far, not pushing any boundaries and complimenting him when he does something right. And yeah, Gilbert had given him an easy job of being Elizabeta's helper, but that didn't outweigh how terrible Gilbert was.

Gilbert had scared Matthew at first and was the cause of Matthew's worry and distress. The albino was a pirate who probably stole from people and wrecked homes. People in this village seemed to like Gilbert and his crew, but they probably didn't know what horrible things Gilbert and his crew theoretically did.

Oh god, now Matthew was starting to consider all of the possibilities and had recognized it as random guessing. Maybe Gilbert and his crew weren't bad at all and Matthew was just another ignorant person who judged them just because they were pirates. Matthew could remember the little books Francis would read to him as a kid that told him about great pirates who did plenty of good rather than bad. Maybe Gilbert was that kind of pirate.

Standing, Matthew looked around, ready to go and find Gilbert and apologize for his rash thinking and quick action. It was then that Matthew realized that while running he had actually ended up in the forest that he had been thinking of running away in.

Well, wasn't that just peachy? Matthew was lost in a forest and the sun was starting to go down and all the pirates would probably assume that he was trying to run away. Sighing loudly, Matthew sat back down and put his back against a tree. There was no use in getting even more lost with it turning dark. Attempting to find his way would be a lot easier in the morning.

Lying back, Matthew watched the sun go down as his eyes blinked shut.

* * *

Gilbert sat at the bar, with some rum in one hand and his head in the other hand. The single thought running through his head was the question of why he had to be so stupid. His crew was spread out in the building with their own ale and rum and whatever they wanted. Gilbert had decided to just let them do whatever after they had gotten all the supplies loaded and he still hadn't seen Matthew since he had run off. It was dark now and Gilbert couldn't help but worry a little.

Though, it was also impossible to ignore the nagging little voice in the back of his mind that told him that Matthew had run away. It would make sense, after all, since that was what Matthew had been thinking of doing before running off. Gilbert had just been the idiot to give Matthew the incentive to take off running. Typical of Gilbert's luck, he had opened up to someone and started to trust them and they turned around and took off running in the other direction with a piece of his heart. Oh, and now Gilbert was acting like a love sick little girl. Well, that would just add onto the pill of crap wrong with him.

Sighing Gilbert took a drink of his rum and tried his best to not seem as depressed as he felt. Apparently his trying just made him look even more depressed because Elizabeta had started walking over.

"Now, before you go on your whole, 'no I'm not upset about anything,' rant I wanted to tell you that I know you're upset about something because, first off, Matthew's not here with you and, secondly, you haven't drunk about half of what you normally would have by now, and lastly, you'd be doing stupid stuff like challenging people to arm wrestling matches or drinking contests," Elizabeta said in a motherly tone. In one hand she had her own glass of rum and her other hand was placed on her hip, accenting the motherly tone in her voice.

In other circumstances Gilbert would have found her tone and posture funny, but at this point Gilbert didn't really feel like laughing at anything. "Yeah I am upset about stuff. I told Matthew I liked him and he took off running into the woods nearby. I know it was really stupid of me to go and tell him something like that, but he was just ranting about how terrible of a person I am and I didn't want him to see me as that so I told him how my thoughts about him had changed and so I was different now and it just kind of came out that I liked him and I can't believe how stupid I was to do something like that. I mean really, what a way to go and freak someone out. He probably thinks I'm a freak now too which would just be even better and exactly my luck. And before you go and chew me out for being stupid don't bother cause I've already got that covered so-"

"Wait Gilbert, Matthew's in the forest? Gilbert why didn't you tell anyone sooner! You know there are wolves everywhere in that forest, everyone does! Well, everyone but the kid you let get lost in the forest. I'm not gonna chew you out for finally telling him how you actually feel, but I will chew you out for being so stupid and forgetting about the wolves! We need to go look for him now," Elizabeta commanded, setting her cup down.

"Oh shit!" Gilbert exclaimed standing up quick as a flash before he dashed out the door. "Round up anyone you can and get to the forest to look, Liz. I'm going ahead!"

* * *

The first thing Matthew noticed was the fact that he had fallen asleep in the middle of the forest. The second thing he noticed was the growling coming from the bushes that distinctly sounded like a dog or a wolf's growl. The third thing Matthew thought about was the fact that Gilbert and his crew had probably already set sail at this point. Oh, and there was one more thing, Matthew also recognized the fact that he was probably screwed.

Pulling out his sword, that he thankfully had, Matthew pushed his back against the tree he had fallen asleep on and got ready for whatever it was to attack him. Taking a deep breath, Matthew steadied his hand and readied himself for a dog or a wolf to jump out and attack. He definitely wasn't expecting two wolves to pop out of the bushes, nor was he expecting another wolf to appear from the other side of the tree.

Slashing at the first wolf to attack, Matthew used the sheath of the sword to block a second wolf's teeth. With the first wolf wounded, the third one moved into attack. This time Matthew stabbed at the third wolf, running his blade through the neck of the wolf. As he was trying to pull the blade out of the now dead wolf, the first wolf to attack attacked again, this time clawing at Matthew's side before going to bite his leg.

Not letting go of his sword, Matthew kicked the first wolf in the head. Finally pulling the sword out of the dead wolf, Matthew turned to the second wolf that had been biting the sword sheath and clawing up his arm. Matthew delivered a quick stab to the chest before pulling his sword out. The first and only wolf left attacked again while Matthew had his back turned. The wolf's front paws hit Matthew's back causing him to fall to the ground face first as well as knock off his glasses. Pinned by the heavy wolf, Matthew tried to struggle out of its grip, expecting its teeth to sink into his neck at any second.

What Matthew wasn't expecting was a certain albino to come to his rescue. There was a loud shout and a yelp from the wolf on his back before Matthew felt the wolf's blood fall all over his back. Lying there for a moment longer, Matthew tried to steady his breathing. He had really though he was going to die. In fact he had been terrified that this was going to be the end. Taking a deep, yet shaky breath, Matthew closed his eyes.

"Birdie? Matthew? Are you okay? You're not that injured right?" Gilbert asked, though it sounded like he was scared of the answers.

Matthew moved a little bit at this point even though he just wanted to lie there for a while. All the adrenaline from fighting the wolves was drained from him and now he really just felt tired and hurt.

Pushing himself up, Matthew hissed at the stinging sensation from his arms. "Yeah, I'm alright. They really just scratched up my arms and my side. I'm kind of tired though," Matthew said as he blinked a few times. Man, was he really this blind without his glasses. Looking around Matthew tried to spot his glasses, but in the dark like this and with his bad eyesight there was no hope of it.

Gilbert was confused at Matthew's searching before realizing the blond wasn't wearing his glasses anymore. Glancing around, Gilbert spotted the glasses and picked them up. "Here Bi- Matthew," Gilbert said. It didn't feel right to call the other Birdie after he had run off like that earlier.

"Oh. um… thanks Gilbert. Y- You can still call me Birdie if you want. I shouldn't have run off earlier. I mean, it just kind of surprised me that you er… I guess that you weren't as mean as I thought you were. I mean you did a lot for me and everything and you kind of trusted me in a way to not do anything stupid and you didn't do anything really bad to me like I though you would and then you said that maybe you like me and it just freaked me out okay? I mean, way to scare someone who thinks you hate them," Matthew said, rambling a bit out of nervousness. He took the glasses and put them back on.

Nodding a bit, Gilbert just asked, "Do you think you can walk back to town?"

Matthew nodded and started walking. There was a slight limp to his step because of the wounds on his side, but he was managing.

Gilbert followed after quietly. Half of him wanted to talk to Matthew about what had happened, but the other half told him to leave it alone before he screwed it all up again. Glaring at the forest floor, Gilbert tried to sort out his thoughts. He didn't even know how much he actually did like Matthew. Yeah, Gilbert had gone and said that he liked Matthew as more than a person, but what in the world was that supposed to mean? Did Gilbert like Matthew as a good friend or did it go on even further than that? It was confusing and Gilbert was getting a headache just thinking about it, but he had a feeling he needed to sort out his feelings soon or something would happen to ruin it.

Soon enough, there was a shout. "Matthew! Gilbert! Where are you guys?"

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Gilbert shouted back, "We're right here guys! I've got Matthew with me. He's bleeding, but not hurt too badly."

The lights of lit lanterns started to show up as the crew moved in the direction of Gilbert's voice. Staying still and waiting for the crew to come to them, Matthew leaned against a tree and looked at his arms. The light of the moon was good enough for him to see that his arms were messed up, but it wasn't bright enough for him to tell just how badly they were messed up or how much they were bleeding.

Elizabeta was leading the party of men searching, a bright lantern in one hand and a sword in the other hand. Lifting the lantern up a bit to light up both Matthew and Gilbert's faces, Elizabeta smiled. "You had us worried, Matthew. We all split up into groups and started looking. Come on! We all agreed to meet up at the bar after a while of searching," Elizabeta said turning to lead Gilbert and Matthew to the bar.

It was a while later when the rest of the crew showed up and Matthew's wounds were all wrapped up that they started truly celebrating winning the previous fight. A few people patted Matthew on the back for his stunts and others knocked Matthew's head for worrying everyone by running off into a forest in the middle of the night. Matthew couldn't really do much other than sit there and watch everyone else, but for the first time Matthew actually felt like he belonged in the crew.

* * *

Another week had passed and in that time quite a lot had happened. Matthew's injuries had healed up fairly quickly from fighting with the wolves so he was able to continue working in the kitchen and such, but he found himself sneaking out of the kitchen to bother Gilbert. He and Gilbert shared a bed, though they were really only friends for the time being. They mostly shared a bed just so they could talk to one another late into the night and, if Matthew was completely honest, Matthew had gotten used to sharing a bed and felt that it would be weird to sleep alone.

And so, that was the way things had been. Gilbert and Matthew were getting quite a bit closer throughout the week and Matthew was still questioning just how strong of feelings he had for Gilbert. It was hard to decided, but Matthew was beginning to understand what it was he felt about Gilbert.

It was a fairly good week and the crew seemed happier as well, but, as all things, it had to go wrong eventually.

"There's a ship heading straight for us!" A call from the lookout came down alerting everyone on the deck of the oncoming ship.

Ludwig was standing tall beside the person steering when he turned to Gilbert and said, "Well? Should we try to evade them? It looks like one of Arthur's ships after all."

Shaking his head, Gilbert frowned slight, but quickly shook it off. Giving a fake smirk he said, "Nah we'll take them on."

A worried look crossed Ludwig's face, but he said nothing, choosing to trust Gilbert's judgment. "Crew, get ready and be prepared to be boarded!" Ludwig shouted for everyone to hear before he turned to Gilbert once more. "What about Matthew and Elizabeta? These fights with Arthur's crew normally get pretty bloody."

Considering it for a moment, Gilbert said, "I want Elizabeta to stay safe. We can't afford to lose her and... Matthew, I'll let him decide on his own. As much as I care for him I can't treat him like a helpless little girl." Gilbert kept a neutral face and gave Ludwig a nod before turning around.

Gilbert was about to walk off, but he paused for a moment. "And… Ah- Be careful yourself."

If he was honest, Ludwig would admit that he was surprised to hear his brother say that. Ludwig knew that Gilbert cared about him and he cared about Gilbert, but Gilbert wasn't really one for verbalizing his care especially after their father had died years ago. It touched Ludwig to hear Gilbert verbalize the fact that he cared, but of course Ludwig wasn't going to let that show because he also didn't enjoy showing his care openly. "You too," was Ludwig's quiet response as he watched his brother walk away.

A small smile graced Gilbert's features as he walked away. Though he didn't have a clue what made him tell Ludwig to be careful, Gilbert was glad he had done so especially since Ludwig had quietly returned the warning. Gilbert's face turned a bit grim though as he began to think of what he had to tell Elizabeta and Matthew. Of course, Gilbert would order Elizabeta to stay down there unless things took a turn for the worse. It wasn't that Gilbert thought Elizabeta couldn't handle herself, especially since until recently Elizabeta could hand his ass to him; it was more so that Gilbert knew without a proper cook they would dry from wasted food and such. That and the fact that a female would be a target prisoner for various reasons and Gilbert didn't need to worry about Elizabeta while trying to fight. With Matthew, Gilbert really had no choice other than telling Matthew to make his own choice. It wasn't Gilbert's place to tell Matthew to not risk himself and it would look like Gilbert was playing favorites. GIlebrt just hoped that giving Matthew the excuse of leaving him there to protect Elizabeta would be enough to keep him situated.

Reaching the room that held Matthew and Elizabeta, Gilbert cleared his throat and said, "We're going to be under attack very soon. Elizabeta, you know the drill. Stay here, stay safe. Matthew…" Gilbert so desperately wanted to command Matthew to stay with Elizabeta, but he had already decided to not do that.

Watching Gilbert carefully, Matthew prepared himself to be ordered to stay with Elizabeta and protect her and to protect himself despite the fact that Matthew would rather be out risking his life as well. A soft sigh came out of his mouth as Matthew accepted the fact that he would most likely be forced to stay.

"Matthew I want to tell you to stay here and stay safe, but I trust you to make whatever decision is best for you. Just know that fights with Arthur's crew get bloody," Gilbert said softly. It pained him to risk Matthew's life considering how close Matthew was to him, but Gilbert wasn't going to command Matthew's actions anymore. It was time for Gilbert to let Matthew decide.

Shouts were heard as the thumping of boot sounded over heard. Commands to get ready for battle rang clear and Gilbert turned and ran back to help his crew fend off the intruders.

Turning to Elizabeta, Matthew looked at her to see what her response would be. If she wanted him to stay, he would because he cared about Elizabeta enough to listen to what she wanted, but if she gave the all clear, Matthew would fight because he also cared about Gilbert and the rest of the crew enough that Matthew wanted to risk his life to protect them.

A single nod from Elizabeta gave Matthew all of the information he needed. "Thanks Elizabeta," Matthew hurriedly said before racing after Gilbert so he could join the fight.

"Just don't get hurt..." Elizabeta said softly before opening up a drawer and pulling her own sword from it. It was best to be prepared and it wouldn't exactly be a shock if one of Arthur's crew came to find others. It had happened before, though Elizabeta had always been able to cut whomever it was down.

Matthew heard the muttered words of caution and smiled gently. As best as he could, Matthew would do as Elizabeta asked and not get hurt.

Bursting out onto the deck, Matthew drew his sword and saw that the fight had escalated quickly. Arthur's men had swarmed their ship and they had swarmed Arthur's ship. Both of the ships looked to be like war zones, but it didn't matter to Matthew. All that mattered to him was protecting the ship he stood on. Launching himself into the battle, Matthew jabbed a man with the hilt of his sword, getting the man to kneel over before Matthew ran his blade through the man. Ignoring the blood, Matthew pulled his blade back to him and looked to see where he was next needed.

Spotting one of the members of the crew, Kiku, getting cornered by three of Arthur's men, Matthew moved in that direction quickly. Once again using the hilt of his sword, Matthew knocked one of the men away before clashing swords with another man. Kiku dealt with the third man, now taking a strong stance for one on one combat. Matthew didn't pay mind to Kiku's fight though, choosing to only focus on his own fight.

Striking downward, Matthew tried to slash the man, but was blocked easily. Stepping back and pulling his sword with him, Matthew waited for a moment. The man lunged forward, trying to stab Matthew, but Matthew knocked the man's blade to the side before Matthew dragged his sword across the stomach of the man, splitting it open and making the man fall. Turning to the one Matthew had hit with the hilt of his sword, Matthew blocked and struck at the man, but this man was strong and would block or just counter. The man's sword nicked Matthew's shoulder and he hissed, trying to return the favor. As they exchanged blows, Kiku finished off his opponent and moved in to assist Matthew. With a quick slash, Kiku separated the man's head from his body.

Taking a step back, Matthew gave Kiku a quick nod of thanks before moving back into the fight. Attacking and kicking and punching any enemies that moved, Matthew made his way towards Gilbert wanting to help him.

Knocking the sword out of the hand of an enemy, Gilbert struck down yet another of Arthur's men before moving on to strike down even more of them. Gilbert was like the devil himself fighting on a battlefield. Anyone who dared get near him was struck down swiftly and without pause. A wild look had taken over Gilbert's crimson eyes as he attacked and protected his men. None would leave alive having faced Gilbert. A slash here a slash there and there was another enemy down for the count. Gilbert wanted this fight over with and fast.

Though, by rushing Gilbert really made a big mistake. In his fury, Gilbert failed to realize that the captain of his enemies had entered the fight and was pointing a short pistol right at him. Ludwig, who was fight alongside his brother, noticed the deadly weapon along with Matthew.

"Gilbert watch out!" Matthew screamed, trying to get to Arthur to stop the pirate captain from shooting.

Dropping his weapon, Ludwig shoved Gilbert to the ground just as the shot rang through the air and sank into Ludwig's chest. Falling to his knees, Ludwig grasped at his chest for a moment before falling to the deck. The searing pain was too much for him to move or take a fighting stance once more. Taking his last breath, Ludwig sent a silent pray that his brother would be okay.

Freezing at the sight and from the shock, Gilbert felt his entire body go numb.

"Men retreat!" Arthur shouted, moving to retreat back to his own ship. A wave of movement surged through the fighting mass.

Matthew continued to try and move towards Arthur to attack the pirate captain, but he was knocked over by someone and kicked in the jaw by a heavy boot. Clutching his jaw in one hand and his sword in the other, Matthew stood, but by that time most of Arthur's men were already on board the other ship and they had begun to sail away.

Turning on his heel, Matthew looked to see where the shot had gone, praying that it hadn't hit Gilbert. Seeing Gilbert lying over Ludwig's body, Matthew felt his gut wrench and hung his head. Arthur would pay for this.

* * *

All of the crew stood near the edge of the ship with their heads hung. Before them were several bags that each had a body of a lost man in them. There was no joking around or drinking or loud laughing. A dull sobbing sound came from a few of the men, but most of them just stood silently, trying to not shout about following after Arthur and get revenge. The battles with Arthur rarely ended without death on both sides.

In front of all of them stood Gilbert and in front of Gilbert was Ludwig's body. "Men, honor those who died today. Send them up wishes of a good afterlife and a better tomorrow. We all took to this ship knowing that it meant risking our lives and that despite that a few days of fellowship and fun would be worth it. At least, I hope it's worth it. We will have our revenge on Arthur soon. He's gone too far this time, but for now we'll send these spirits to their afterlives and lift up a drink in honor of them all. To the life on the sea," Gilbert said, his nearly hollow voice ringing through the silence of the crew. His shoulders sagged and his head was bent down. He seemed like a sagging doll.

The speech was meet with a chorus of, "To the life on the sea," before the bodies were let go into the black sea. The crew left to go and do just what Gilbert had said. They would drink, this time not in celebration, but to forget the sorrow of losing crewmates.

Once nearly everyone else had gone, Matthew walked up to Gilbert not noticing Gilbert motion to another crew member who took place behind Matthew silently.

As gently as possible, Matthew said, "You sound like you have a plan on how you're going to get revenge on Arthur. Just... know that revenge is a tricky thing Gilbert."

Nodding a bit, Gilbert said, "I know. I plan to take the one he loves from him just like he took my brother from me."

Matthew paused at this, wondering how Gilbert would do that. Gilbert had expressly told everyone he wouldn't follow Arthur's ship and attack again so how would Gilbert kill Arthur's lover- Oh god. Matthew's eyes went wide as he realized who and what Gilbert was talking about.

"N- No Gilbert you're not going to go after Francis are yo-" Matthew said before getting cut off.

"Yes, I'm going to kill Francis. It'll hurt Arthur just as much as it hurt to loose Ludwig." Gilbert said coldly.

"You can't do that Gilbert! I won't let you." Matthew snapped back.

"I'm sorry Birdie, but you don't have a choice." Gilbert dead panned as he nodded his head. Two strong arms came from behind Matthew and wrapped around his own arms, restraining him. The man behind him kept a tight grip on Matthew, but waited for Gilbert's orders before moving.

"Put him in the brig."

Struggling, Matthew kicked and flailed, panicking at the words of Gilbert. The man holding onto him started walking him away as Matthew shouted, "You can't do this Gilbert! Please Gilbert don't do this he's my brother. You'll be killing my brother! Gilbert please don't. I can't live without Francis, he's all I have! He's the only one that's ever been there and you can't take him from me please."

Matthew's pleas fell on deaf ears as he was pulled to an empty cell and thrown in. The door was slammed shut and locked. Matthew moved forward and grabbed onto the bars of his jail, tears beginning to leak from his eyes. "Please Gilbert… Don't take my brother from me…"

* * *

Author's Notes: Wow it's been a while since I first published the first three chapters. Um well, yeah, here you go. I don't really have much to say about this chapter. I apologize if the writing's a bit choppy I did stop writing for a really long time before finally picking this story back up. I hope you all like it though and if you do like this, I'd like to ask that you check out my other two chapter PruCan fics. Those are actually both on hold until I finish this fic, because this one is actually supposed to be a prize for someone, but once I finish this I hope to pick the other two stories back up and continue.

Reviews would be great if you don't mind giving one! Have a lovely day~


	5. A Bullet to the Heart

Curled up in a corner, Matthew held his legs close to his chest and rested his head on top of his knees. A sniffle came from him as he tried to piece together some kind of plan. There was nothing though. Matthew had spent the past few hours pacing and checking every bit of the cage that was now his home. There was no way to escape and no way to convince Gilbert to not do it.

Pulling in tighter, Matthew ignored the sound of footsteps walking into the room. No one would be able to comfort him or convince him to be 'reasonable.' How could one be 'reasonable' when their only family was in danger?

"Matthew…" Elizabeta said with a soft look. It pained her to see him huddled off in a corner trying to not cry. She wanted to help him partially because she hated seeing him like that and partially because she disagreed with what Gilbert was trying to do. Timing would be everything. Their reaching the town would happen fairly soon and so Elizabeta needed to act fast.

"Hey, Matthew, I'm going to help you. I don't want your brother to die either. Back before your parents died and you were just a little kid, Francis, Gilbert, I and our dead friend Antonio used to play together. It was really great and I loved them all because they were like family, but Francis decided to do something and when it blew up in his face he tied all us to it. The guards chased us down, having forgiven Francis for his false information. Gilbert tried to fend them off, but when he couldn't Antonio stole something off one of them and took off running. The guards chased after him and let us escape. When they caught Antonio they were so mad they killed him. Gilbert and I had bad names after that so the two of us and Ludwig went running. After that Francis took care of you and cut off all connection with us because it pained him to know that he was the cause of it all. While he made it so I had to leave my first crush behind I didn't care that much. I've had a lot more fun out at sea than I would have married to a proper boy like him. I don't want to see any more of my friends get hurt," Elizabeta said with a frown. She just wanted to keep her little group of friends together.

Matthew's head couldn't have gone up any faster. Leaping to his feet and running to the bars that separated him and Elizabeta, Matthew said, "Really?! Oh Elizabeta please help me save him, I don't want to lose any more of my family. I know he messed up, but I can't stand the thought of him not being there anymore."

A smile came to Elizabeta's face as she nodded to Matthew. "I don't want you to lose the last of your family either. So, here's the plan…"

* * *

Running over his own plan in his head, Matthew waited. The ship had anchored down, but Elizabeta hadn't come down to let him out like she promised. That was really the most of the plan that had been… well, planned. As soon as Gilbert and the others left Elizabeta would release Matthew. It was a simple enough plan and Matthew didn't see much of an issue with it. Matthew waited, expecting Elizabeta to come free him any minute.

What Matthew didn't expect was Gilbert showing up in the room. The albino man seemed annoyed though Matthew had no idea why. In the time it took to get to Matthew's home island, Gilbert hadn't seen Matthew or said a word to him.

"I know all about Elizabeta planning to let you go so you could stop me. I put her under lock and key along with a guard so she can't let you out. I know you're going to hate me after I do this, but I have to. I have to give Ludwig some kind of redemption. I need reven-" Gilbert said shocked when Matthew cut him off.

"And I'll have you know that if you go through with this I'll need revenge and I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth to achieve it. I'll… I'll join Arthur and I'll hunt you down," Matthew growled, completely serious. If Gilbert killed Francis Matthew would do whatever it took to get Gilbert and kill him.

A sigh escaped Gilbert's lips before he said, "I wouldn't expect anything different Matthew. Who knows… maybe if I succeed in killing Francis I'll just let you kill me anyway. If you and Elizabeta hate me for doing this I won't have much to live for anyway. Bird- Matthew, just know that I like you a lot, in a more romantic way and while I know you hate me now for doing this, I just felt the need to tell you that. Good bye Matthew… Whatever happens know that I love you."

Matthew grabbed at the bars in front of him and tried to shake them. "Gilbert you don't have to do this there are other ways of getting revenge. You could have Francis break it off with Arthur or set a trap for Arthur and catch him and kill him or just do something anything than this! If you do it then I'll not only loose Francis I'll lose you too because you'll no longer be someone I care for you'll just be someone I want to see rot in hell. Let me out and try to move on. You're harboring all of this hatred and thoughts for revenge that you're missing almost every key part of life!" Matthew said furiously. He had to stop Gilbert and at that moment the only weapon Matthew had was his words.

"You don't get it. You won't ever get it," Gilbert snapped, turning away and walking off, leaving Matthew to wonder how in the world he was going to get out of the cage.

Sliding down to his knees, Matthew pushed his head against the bars and tried to not give up hope. A light shuffle of feet caused Matthew to look up once more, this time seeing Kiku. Assuming that Kiku was just there to guard him, Matthew put his head back up against the bars again and tried to think. Hearing the click of a lock surprised Matthew as his head shot up and he looked at Kiku who held a key in one hand and then open door in the other.

Moving out of the cage Matthew took Kiku up and a great hug before letting go of the smaller male. "For saving my life, I'm letting you go. If you run you may be able to stop Gilbert in time," Kiku said in a soft voice.

Nodding quickly, Matthew sprinted out of the room and to the edge of the ship. Shouts from behind him alerted Matthew that the others weren't aware that Kiku let him go and that they were supposed to make sure he didn't escape. Matthew ignored them though and leapt off the side of the ship, diving into the water. Swimming as fast as he possibly could, Matthew made it to the very edge of the water and started running. From a different person's view he must have looked like an insane person to have dived from a ship, swam to shore, and then started sprinting across the land, but maybe Matthew was a little crazy.

His heart pounded as he ran as fast as his legs would possibly carry him, trying to reach his house before Gilbert would reach it or to at least run into Gilbert along the way. Taking in shaky breaths, Matthew ran as fast as his legs could carry him, straining them to their absolute max in sheer desperation to save his brother's life.

Reaching his home, Matthew was horrified to find the door busted down and broken. Calling out, Matthew looked around the house and didn't see anyone. Turning Matthew ran out of the house, wondering which way to look, where to go and find them.

Something clicked inside of Matthew's head as he turned on his heel and took off towards a hill that was nearby. Pumping his legs, Matthew moved faster than he had before. Adrenaline pumped through his entire system as thoughts and images flashed through his head. A memory of his mother's lifeless face at her funeral. A hand coming down in the dark and slapping him across the face. Wavy golden hair hanging above him as soft song filled the room. Memories of his family flitted around his head as he ran, knowing that if he lost this last bit of family he would lose everything.

Reaching the top of the hill, Matthew saw Gilbert standing a little ways away from Francis, talking, shouting, screaming at Francis about how it was the blond man's fault Ludwig died. Telling Francis that everything was his fault and having Francis calmly stare at him. Francis looked like a man waiting to die and it made Matthew's skin crawl.

With a new burst of energy, Matthew charged forward just as Gilbert began to pull out his gun. As Gilbert took aim, Matthew was mere feet away from Francis. The pulling of a trigger happened just as Matthew's outstretched hands began to force Francis to the ground. And the bullet, true to its mark, sailed straight through Matthew's heart.

* * *

Author's Notes: So I didn't expect to finish this today, but I did and yeah... I also didn't mean to make this depressing but it just kind of fit... So I'm sorry. Depending on the response I get I may end up making an alternate ending that's happier, but I'm not gonna bother if no one's interesting. Anyway thanks for reading!

Bye~


	6. Epilogue

((Alright so just a warning this chapter contains swearing and more character death.))

* * *

Arthur climbed the hill, his cloak sweeping behind him in the wind. He had arrived at the small port city to try and visit his dear Francis, but a neighbor told him that an albino man had bust the door down before taking the blonde in the direction of a large hill.

A slew of swears came out of Arthur's mouth as he muttered under his breath that if a single hair was out of place on Francis' head Arthur would have Gilbert's head. As he walked Arthur became angrier and angrier, after all it was the albino's fault that they fought all the time. The idiot needed to learn to stay off his seas. Who cared if a few people got hurt as long as it was Gilbert's people. Right? Well not really. Arthur actually hated all of the bloodshed, but he was so far in the pirate business it wasn't like he could stop now. Something drastic would have to happen before he could stop.

Reaching the top of the hill, Arthur was prepared to give Gilbert a thorough lashing before demanding that Francis make him tea for all the trouble he went through to save him. What Arthur hadn't expected was to find three dead bodies and a calm Japanese man standing off to the side with a stoic expression. He also didn't expect the utter devastation he felt at seeing that two of the bodies were Francis and his younger brother or the guilt he also felt at seeing Gilbert among the dead.

Arthur's head snapped up from the bodies to look Kiku in the face. "What the bloody hell happened?! Are you responsible for this?" Arthur screamed.

The look on Kiku's face didn't change a fraction, but the look in his eyes expressed the outrage and enraged emotions he felt for Arthur at that moment. "No I'm not. They were responsible. Well you and Gilbert really. If you two hadn't had a feud going on the other two would be living their lives happily," Kiku sneered angrily. He fully blamed Gilbert and Arthur. "But you do deserve to know what happened…"

_Matthew hit the ground, dead with that one bullet, unmoving. Eyes wide open and mouth set in a grim line of acceptance, Matthew's body was fit to be in a horror movie._

_Gilbert felt white hot rage boiling in the pit of his stomach as he finally peeled his eyes away from Matthew. Looking Francis in the face, Gilbert snarled, moving closer. His finger firmly on the trigger and the gun raised and aimed at Francis' head, Gilbert stalked forward, his face contorted with rage. Somehow, Gilbert still blamed Francis._

_"Y- You! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to put a fucking bullet through your head you piece of shit!" Gilbert roared, reaching Francis and putting the gun up to his head. "Well what do you have to say for yourself? Some idiot excuse incriminating someone else I'm sure cause that's all you do, blame someone else and let them take the fall right, well you let Matthew take the fall for you this time and it serves you right! But. But now there's no one to take the fall right? You have to face the music now!"_

_Francis said nothing and continued to stare at Matthew. He was frozen. What was left of his family of his happiness had just died protecting him. It was all his fault his little brother was dead. Closing his eyes to keep the tears in his eyes, Francis whispered something to Gilbert._

_"What was that? Begging for your useless life?"_

_Turning to face Gilbert, all emotion left Francis as he said, "Kill me."_

_Gilbert didn't even hesitate. He pulled the trigger and ended another life. Watching Francis crumple to the ground, Gilbert looked up to the sky, tears sliding out of his eyes and falling to the ground to mix with the blood spilled there. Twisting his elbow around, Gilbert took a deep breath and said, "See you soon Birdie," and pulled the trigger for the last time._

Once Kiku was done explaining, he didn't wait to see Arthur's reaction because he honestly didn't care to see the pirate captain's look of grief. In Kiku's mind he deserved it. Turning to walk away from the area, Kiku said, "Elizabeta and I will be taking over Gilbert's pirate crew. Despite our loss we can't abandon the rest of the cre relying on the ship for a job. I suggest we allow this feud to be buried with those three because I swear on their afterlives that if you attempt to harm anyone on my crew again you will not live to the tale. Now wipe the look of grief off your face and accept that this is your fault as well. And don't you dare think of taking the same route as Gilbert. Your punishment is living not taking your own life." And with that Kiku was gone.

* * *

A/N: So it was realy split half and half with people who wanted an epilogue and people who wanted an alternate ending so I decided to do both especially since I knew the epilogue wasn't going to be very long and I figured why not. So yeah I hope those of you who wanted an epilogue weren't expecting it to be happy or for Matthew to be miraculously saved. So sorry, but I don't really like writing happy endings unless their at least a little bitter sweet. And as you can see from here I normally go for an FPK (Fully party kill). I do hope you enjoyed the ending though. And I hope you will review with you're new thoughts.

Thank you to _everyone_ who reviewed, quite a few of you made me laugh so hard I thought my guts were going to burst. And there will in fact be an alternate ending that starts from chapter 4. So please keep an eye out for it. Thank you to everyone who read. Goodnight!


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